Winter came back !!

Well it was real nice to get some sun on a few rides. The day after the Wiggins/Gillman loop it started a turn for the worse!! All week it was just gloomy,cold and then the off and on snow and ice started. Well I decided to hit my usual ride south into the hill's anyway. I donned my gear and figured I could use this as an opportunity to test the newest item. It is the North Face "just in case Anorak" shell. It didn't take long to find out this piece of gear is awesome!! It took the sleet,snow,ice pellets and wind very well all while I was comfy warm.I ran into Steve Potter on my way back and spoke with him for a bit. If what he filled me in on happens Potters Pasture will be a truly epic area to ride!! I decided that after the condition's on today's ride I deserved a treat, so a stop at the KOA on the south side of I80 was in store to see what was in the cooler. Hear are a few pics of what was supposed to be a short jaunt of 10 to 15 miles that turned into a 37 mile ride!!

                                             Run turkey run !! There was around 50 !!

                                                Wiggins canyon from the top looking north.

                                            Lucky Bucket Lager.Wasn't bad at all.

                                                                            Chad Q

A Sunday Ride

Sunday the 20th of March turned out to be one beautiful day !! A ride was in the air and I had a couple partners in crime today, in the form of  Bob "The" Mann and T Laub aka Jack Cleveland. We were going to tackle the Wiggins Canyon to Gillman Canyon loop. I had done this on a whim before and had around a 50 mile loop with the ride from town to Bob's. Today we would start at Bob's and end there too with around 35 miles. The sun was shining and the wheel's were a rollin' and the dang wind had to start a blowin'. It wasn't bad until you would be hit with a huge gust that almost send you off the the gravel. Heading into it kinda stunk but we made due and kept plugging along. I was the first with issues. A flat, which luckily I was prepared for. On a side note here, I must confess to never changing this tube before!! It was very messy since all I have done was continue to fill it with various sealants and keep rolling. Don't do this unless you like playing in weird, blackish smelly liquids on the trail or gravel. The next to have issue's was Bob. He had picked up a chunk of barbed wire and was slow leaking and we continued on periodically pumping up the tire. Overall it was a great day and it is an interesting loop with some nice climbs and scenery.
                                                                Chad Q 

                                             The top of Gillman Canyon

                                            HMMMM  Black Electrical Tape may work!!!
                                                  Which it did till two miles from the end!!

                                             The crew for the day T Laub,Bob & I

Let's get this thing rollin' !!!

  The first post on the new blog!!  I've been hitting the rides pretty hard this year so far.  I must say it feels really good to enjoy it again!!  I have to admit I was in a "funk" for quite awhile, as many people around me will attest to. Well the year of the "funk" is over, done, gone, CYA!!  Ya know, life happens and you have to just hope for the best, right?  Well I have had the results with some "life" that can only make me proud, happy and most of all relieved.  A weight has been lifted and it's time to enjoy what I have a whole lot more!! Enough about that!!  Time to move on to the bike stuff.
  I will just say the gravel/dirt road exploring has been going very well.  I believe the stash is so untapped that a bicycle quite possibly never rolled these areas, and that is very cool!!  I also have motivation this year since I've entered the Dakota 50 and I've made the decision that to just finish is not in the cards.  I want to apply myself and see what I can do!!  I hope to surprise myself as well as others around me and if for some reason I don't, it is no big deal.  I will have a ton of fun doin' it anyway.  I also have some covert motivation to do a bunch of rides that may be revealed in the future.  All I can say is I AM SUPER STOKED!!
Here are a few pics from the latest rides.
                                     Enjoy my friends and GO RIDE a BIKE !!

                                           Chad Q